The government reports this as a ‘challenging time’ for this sector as a result of decreasing international student admissions and increasing pension costs. As per the Institute of Fiscal Studies’ report on education spending in England, promised pension costs may rise up to ‘£8bn, or double our previous estimate of about £4bn.’

A proposed strategy is imposing limits on pensions, however that had not been a very promising outcome last year when lecturers had gone on long periods of strike. 

Report co-author Ben Waltmann stated: ‘while the student numbers have been better than expected’ considering the unprecedented circumstances, the number of  student dropouts have risen, in addition to reductions in other income streams. 

The large deficit of university pension schemes has risen from £3.6bn in March 2018 to an estimated £21.5bn in August of this year.

Co-author Imran Tahir has warned that the consequences of bleak funding in the future could ‘erode’ the amount spent by universities per student. 

The Department for Education has introduced a range of support, from an additional £3bn worth of grant funding for further education, to announcing research funding amounting to £280m. 

While the government support appears to be promising, Geoff Barton, a head member of the Association of School and College Leaders described it as ‘Cinderella service,’ implying it to be a short-lived stabilisation plan.

As further emphasised by Bill Watkin, Chief Executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, the support for higher education was a ‘welcome step’, but only after a ‘decade of neglect.’

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